Posts From July, 2014

TWINNING AT POZIERES
I must say it was a proud moment for me as I stood beside the Mayor of Pozieres, Bernard Delattre, to witness the signing of the twinning arrangement between Pozieres and the northern Sydney municipality of Ku-ring-gai.... read more

BATTLE OF POZIERES COMMEMORATIVE CHURCH SERVICE
This Sunday, 3rd August, there will be the Battle of Pozieres Commemorative Church Service at St John’s Anglican Church in Gordon. This is a special service to commemorate the tragic loss of... read more

One of the most difficult and sobering places on the Ypres salient is a visit to the massive Commonwealth War Graves cemetery at Tyne Cot, just two kilometres from Passchendaele where the awful casualties of this allied attack can be seen.

It is always a joy going to Ypres. Apart from being the tour hub and the accommodation centre for my battlefield tours, it has a long and fascinating history of commerce and wealth on one hand and occupation and war on the other.

To the southeast of Ypres, beginning at Hellfire Corner and joining the town of Menin is the historically significant Menin Road. In mid-1917, the Germans had a clear and uninterrupted view of the first two kilometres of this road, right through to the Menin Gate

I left Paris at 8am, hit the Perhiperque, the Paris ring road and headed north up the A1. A stop in Epernay to visit the Mercier champagne house then on to our first stop, Mont St Quentin – a very special place in Australian military history.